When I heard department stores were opening up on Thanksgiving Day this year, I wanted to write a profound column about the true meaning of Thanksgiving. But to do so, I needed to double-check the actual facts about the original dinner party.

So I Googled “The True History of Thanksgiving” and was surprised by how much the “facts” differed.

David Hayes Press reporter

The first hit links to a rather acerbic article that hotly posits that the first day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed by Massachusetts Colony Gov. John Winthrop. Apparently, he actually called for a celebration upon the safe return of a hunting party after they successfully massacred 700 Pequot Indians. Not the history lesson I grew up with, and since the author didn’t list his sources, I cannot verify the veracity of his claims.